This Everest Base Camp post is Part 3 of 3.
Read Part 1
Read Part 2
Day 10 – Monday, November 25th
To EBC (5,365m), then back to Gorakshep (5,180m)
Pretrek meeting notes:
- Wear base, down, wind protection, beanie, buff, and heavy gloves
- Carry 1.5L of water
- ~2hr to Gorakshep, 1hr lunch, ~2.5hr to EBC
- Trekking poles
- 6:30am breakfast
I slept pretty well last night. Had to use the bathroom twice and couldn’t sleep between 1am – 3am, but no prob. My headache also went away and I was feeling at 100% again.
We packed our bags and had breakfast at 6:30am.
Our trek to Gorakshep started at 7:30am.
We got there around 10:30am or so, and had lunch. After lunch, we checked into our rooms and prepared for the trek to EBC.
Now it was time to begin our trek. I put on my warmest clothes, made sure I had my camera and some water, and we headed out.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. The trek was cold and windy. Overall not hard at all.
The path towards the end to arrive to EBC is a straight shot, then a hard right and you’ve arrived. The base camp is of course, at the base of all the mountains and the ground level was covered with glaciers.
Turns out EBC has no tents. There was a line of people waiting to take photos with a rock that was tagged with the words “Everest Base Camp” in red spray paint.
Here’s the only group photo we took at Everest Base Camp.
We ended up walking down towards the glaciers for photos.
The glaciers were super huge. It was hard to tell just how big they were until you get up close to them.
I got too cold so I left. The hike back was difficult due to the cold.
We saw two avalanches though. When we made it back to Gorakshep, we ordered tea, dinner, and got ready for bed. Vanessa, Erick, Winston and I had a nice chat in their room until dinner time. Now we are in the dining area eating. We have decided to skip out on the additional morning hike for tomorrow.
Day 11 – Tuesday, November 26th
To Shomare (4040m)
Breakfast was at 6:30am. Sleep was okay, and not too cold. I heard people waking up and leaving for the sunrise hike at around 3-4am.
When morning came, it was hard to wake up and get out of bed. The diner was pretty empty when we got in at 6:30am.
After breakfast on the way out, we ran into Luke and Nikki, who were just returning from their morning hike. They said that it was cloudy and super cold. Their toes were just starting to have feeling again. We exchanged contact, said goodbye, and then started the trek back.
The wind was chilly and kept blowing dust into my eyes. The hike was not enjoyable because of that.
We walked for a long time over rocks, valleys, besides rivers, and eventually to where we were to spend the night (originally). We grabbed lunch there.
To get to shomare, we needed to walk another hour. We got there soon enough. The accommodation was small and still cold. Also, the bathroom was outside! At least we finally had signal.
It was nice to hike back down to lower elevation. You can really feel the difference, and the amount of distance that you can cover descending is exponentially more than ascending. Pretty much “all downhill from here.”
Day 12 – Wednesday, November 27th
To Namche Bazaar (3,460m)
Our day started with breakfast at 7:30am. The roads were icy going out of town.
During the hike, we talked about each other’s upbringing, and I learned a lot more about everyone’s backgrounds. These are the types of moments that make trips with friends memorable.
We ate by the river.
This hits the spot the best, because they have Shin Ramyun, and you can request it with a fried egg on top. Nom!
The walk had a lot more ups than it did the day before. I didn’t mind. We continued for a long time and eventually made it back to Namche.
At one point during the hike, Erick and I got distracted and started taking a ton of portrait shots. Here’s one where Erick thought I looked kinda like a “samurai” with my trekking pole, lol.
Below are some photos taken along the way (sorry the order is mixed up).
Back at Namche, everyone was too tired to shop. We just got cleaned up, “skipped dinner” and went to Tomodachi Restaurant instead. We pigged out. The owner lived in Japan for 7 years and moved back home to open this restaurant.
After dinner we all went to sleep. K.O.
Day 13 – Thursday, November 28th
To Lukla (2,804m)
We had breakfast at 7:30am. The start to Lukla was again cold, but warmed up quickly. This day was to be harder than the last. There was a lot of walking, over many steep downhills and at the very end a lot of uphill.
We ate lunch at the same place where we first stayed at. Along the way, we saw a lot of monkeys, farts, and even a bleeding butthole.
Back at Lukla, a Japanese couple welcomed and cheered us on for returning from our journey. I was so excited, but also had stomach pains and ran away to find a bathroom.
In our new rooms, we had a shower in the bathroom (and our own in room toilet). I finally showered, but the shower clogged and all the black mold was floating around my feet.
At dinner, our guide bought us all drinks and we tipped each of the porters.
Came night time, we went to an Irish bar and a Scottish bar. That was the night.
Day 14 – Friday, November 29th
Fly to Kathmandu (1,345m)
We made it! In the morning after breakfast, we did a little shopping. Then it was off to the airport to wait for our flight.
I bought a patch (it’s now sewn onto my backpack) and some prayer flags. We also tried to buy a yak bell, but ran out of time before our flight (probably a good thing).
The process for getting through the airport is a little confusing, but also not too bad since it’s very small.
Basically:
- Enter through the Departures door
- Turn right and go down the stairs to check-in for your flight (get your boarding pass)
- Get your bag searched by security
- Continue on to the security check (for passport and ticket)
- Wait in the waiting room until it’s time for your flight
- Time to board!
The flight was easy, and I only got scared once. Pilot was excellent and landed smoothly. Upon landing, we dropped off Claude and Brian at the International Airport early.
The rest of us went to the hotel. New rooms were so much nicer than our original ones. For lunch, we got Korean.
The KBBQ was surprisingly very good. The Korean woman that served us was the owner, and she said that she has been living in Nepal for 20 years now! Apparently there’s a small Korean community that lives in Kathmandu.
We also got massages at some point. The one that Vanessa and I got were pretty decent, we shared a couples room together. Apparently Erick was too big to fit in a room, so he ended up getting his massage in the hallway on a chair. It looked kind of sad actually. Erick said that the worker screamed when she saw his feet for some reason, too. Hmmm…
The trekking company made us go to their office to leave feedback for them and to pick up our certificates that we didn’t want. Kind of annoying, but we did it anyways.
For the rest of the day, we mostly ate and shopped. My stomach was exploding with too much ice cream and sweets.
And at night, drinks from a few bars.
It was still a long day for us, so we didn’t stay out too long to over exhaust ourselves. But it sure was nice to be able to relax and know that the journey was a success.
Day 15 – Saturday, November 30th
Exploring Kathmandu
Winston left this morning at 9am. Erick and I had breakfast with him before saying goodbye.
Later we moved hotels to Hostel Yog. Originally we had booked 2 rooms, but one of our rooms were given away so we ended up having to share. The hostel was still cool though.
Walking around Kathmandu was exciting (and chaotic). Foot traffic, motor traffic, construction, all within the multitude of alleyways in Kathmandu city.
At the start of our day for sightseeing, we walked by a random street vendor and got this sweet snack wrapped in newspaper.
In the middle of what felt like nowhere was this stupa. Actually, there are religious monuments all over the city.
Here I am walking through the city wearing my facemask (looks like post-covid times, but this is actually pre!). The city is polluted, so it’s best to wear a mask.
First stop was a local market.
It was a fairly hot day to walk around. We saw lots of interesting structures. These photos below were taken around Kathmandu Durbar Square, which is in front of the old royal palace of the former Kathmandu Kingdom.
There’s an entrance fee to go inside and see the palace. We were a bit heat exhausted, so we decided to skip it and grab a taxi instead. Our taxi driver let Erick plug in his phone to play music. Before we knew it, we were bumping some old school hip hop, and the taxi driver turned it up.
When we arrived at our destination, Erick realized that he had forgotten his 360 camera in the taxi. Luckily, the taxi driver was still around the block.
And here we are, Swayambhunath Stupa (aka the Monkey Temple).
You can imagine why it’s nicknamed the monkey temple, because… Monkeys! Some of them were quite aggressive though. It’s a little frightening.
There are many steps to get to the top. Also, at the top is where you need to pay to go in. Otherwise it’s completely free outside.
Here’s a view from the top.
Erick always wants me to dab in every photo.
Some more shots from around the stupa. While we were here, there were lots of people praying. Of course, I wasn’t allowed to document any of it, but it was nice to see.
I think this is one of my favorite photos of us in Kathmandu.
Uh, random, but yes these are Nepal bricks.
After our little exploration around Kathmandu, we went back to our hostel to rest up. Both Erick and Vanessa took a nap, while I went up to the rooftop to hangout and write my last journal entry for the trip. Here it is.
Now I’m back at the hostel. I’m writing my final journal entry from the top of the hostel which is super cool. There’s a lot of nice chill spaces. Being at this location right now makes me not want to leave. It’s really chill. I can see myself spending more time here to do nothing. Instead, I’ll probably go and read a bit. See what Erick is up to. We head out tomorrow.
Eventually when Erick woke up, I was able to drag him out to hang on the rooftop. We played some pool together and drank beers on the multilevel constructed platform that was built. The view from up there was moving. I won’t forget this trip.
Day 16 – Sunday, December 1st
Departure Flight
And now it’s finally time to say goodbye to Nepal. It was an amazing journey from beginning to end, and I’m so happy that I took on this challenge.
I am looking forward to journeys in the future to help me further grow. Can’t wait for what the future holds.
Thanks for following along on my trip. Hope you enjoyed!
x Sarah